1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sanitary protective coverings of the type commonly used in physician's offices to provide a clean surface against which the patient's body or portions thereof may rest during examination or treatment. More specifically, the invention refers to a type of disposable cover for use on the conventional stirrups found on certain examination tables.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, certain physicians' examination tables are equipped with a pair of adjustable foot supports or stirrups. These stirrups are especially useful to support the patient's feet and legs in an elevated, separated position so that various examinations and treatments may be performed. Typically, the stirrups are made of metal, and come in direct contact with the patients' feet. Occasionally, the patient may be permitted to keep shoes on during the exam. In either case, the stirrup is subjected to possible contamination by debris, germs and/or organisms on the feet or shoes. Further contamination may occur during the procedures performed. For this reason, there is a need to provide a sanitary cover for the stirrups to protect the current patient from being exposed to possible contaminants left by the previous patient, and simultaneously preventing transfer to subsequent patients and/or health care providers.
Previous attempts have been made to address comfort concerns involved in using stirrups. Metal is a cold and unforgiving material. Patients, often barefoot, express discomfort at placing their feet on the cold surface. In prolonged exams or those where the patient must exert pressure on the stirrup, the unforgiving nature of metal, along with the shape of the stirrup, make for a bothersome experience. To alleviate some of these problems, some physicians have covered the stirrups with common gym socks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,193 which issued on Nov. 23, 1982, to Mitchell for a cover for stirrup of physician's examination table discloses a padded cover that slips over the stirrup and is held in place by a sleeve portion. The cover is provided with a foam padding, especially at the heel portion, for adding comfort. U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,687 which issued to Mitchell on Oct. 4, 1983 discloses a method of manufacturing this cover.
UK Patent Application 2,041,737 published Sep. 17, 1980, for an adjustable labor-delivery-recovery hospital bed includes a pair of padded crutches, for purposes similar to stirrups, without mention of use of disposable sanitary covers.
Other devices have used a padded sleeve-like cover slipped over or around the stirrup secured by a zipper as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,978 (comfort device for foot stirrups of physician's examining table) which issued on Jul. 1, 1969, to Creelman.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,365 which issued on Sep. 6, 1977, to Dungan discloses another attempt at adding comfort to examination table stirrups. This example comprises a flat annular blank of padded material such as foam plastic which was secured to the stirrups by several tiedowns.
Covering devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,124 which issued to Lansing, et al. on Apr. 12, 1994, for disposable protective sleeve for dental apparatus such as light curing guns are known to provide sanitary protection for multi-use equipment. This cover, however, is not adapted to recognize the special concerns of an examining table stirrup.
Other covering devices have been used to protect the item covered are known, but are less related to the present invention or the field of sanitary disposable covers. Among these are British Patent No. 1,169,159 (detachable decorative seat belt cover) published Oct. 29, 1969.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.